Hunger Untamed (Feral Warriors #5)(80)

"Ariana, come back to me."

The light flashed behind them. In front, lay nothing but the black void of the trap.

"Ariana!"

Kougar? Her voice sounded thin and distant in his head, but his pulse quickened with hope.

"Sweetheart, you must wake up, or you're going to die. We're both going to die."

What did you do? Her voice was stronger this time, closer, and filled with wonder as if she, too, were looking at crystal rainbows.

"I love you, Ariana. Completely. Heart and soul." His pulse thundered, his hands shaking. "Wake up, sweetheart, and turn to mist. Now!"

Beneath his touch, she stirred. As he held his breath, her lashes fluttered gently, and rose.

If he'd been standing, his knees would have buckled beneath him.

"Turn to mist, Ariana. Quickly!"

Confusion clouded her eyes. "Kougar?"

He gripped her face, his hand shaking with urgency. "Ariana, we're in the Syphian wormhole, about to enter the spirit trap. And you're flesh. You must turn to mist, or you'll die!" She met his gaze. "We'll both die."

The confusion cleared, her face taking on a mask of concentration as she lifted her head. As they reached the dark void of the spirit trap, Ariana dissolved, turning to mist in his arms. And then she was inside him, wrapping him in her Ilina energy, filling him with elation.

The darkness swallowed them, stealing his sight and senses, but for Ariana. He felt her energy caressing him and her love filling him, flowing through his blood and dancing through his mind, embracing him inside and out.

His cat leaped, sensing the other animals nearby. He tried to talk, but he could no longer feel his body even to do that. The trap had stolen his ability to move. All he could do was trust Ariana to get his brothers and him out of there. And he did trust her, he realized. Implicitly.

Though he could feel nothing, his cat roared inside with anxious excitement. Time ceased to exist. And suddenly, he was moving again at a startling speed, the lights of the wormhole once more pulsing around him. As they shot into a blast of cold Himalayan air, he saw Tighe and Hawke caught fast in Ariana's energy glow. They were unconscious, at best, their big bodies hanging lifeless on either side of her.

His gut clenched, then released slowly as he heard two faint, thready heartbeats. They weren't too late.

A Feral shout of triumph exploded beneath them, then slowly went silent as Ariana set them on the ground among their brothers and the Feral wives. Melisande must have gone to get the women from Feral House.

The Ferals surged forward, catching Tighe and Hawke out of Ariana's energy grasp, then laying them on the ground as Ariana released Kougar and turned to flesh beside him.

He grabbed her to him with shaking hands, kissing her with joy and relief and the love that had burst inside him as they'd joined within the mating bond. A brilliant light that showed no sign of abating. Ever.

"You did it," he murmured, pulling back.

A smile broke over her beloved face. "We did it."

He smiled. "Yes, we did." But when he would have lost himself in her eyes and told her again what was in his heart, she pulled away.

"I have to see them." Her maidens stood on the other side of the yard, watching her with a mix of worry and relief, confusion and pain, as many suffered the growth of new limbs.

With difficulty, he released her and watched her hurry away from him, to her people. Watched as they surged around her.

He swallowed and turned back to his own. Delaney clung to Tighe, while Lyon pulled her gently away, calling for Kara's radiance and asking for Skye to try to help their animals.

Kougar's gaze returned to Ariana. Like a mother with her children, she touched and embraced and murmured soft words to the women he knew to be her life and heart. While on the other side of him, Kara administered radiance, glowing like a thousand-watt bulb, and Skye danced the dance of a Mage enchantress, drawing on her rare skill as a caller of animals to help heal his friends.

He stood between the two groups, needing Ariana, yet unable to walk away from his own any more than she could her maidens.

Was this to be their world then? Together, yet destined always to be apart? No, not always. Once the threat of Satanan's rising was quelled, he'd have more time to spend with her. And he would spend every moment he could. The situation wasn't perfect, but he knew it didn't matter.

He wasn't losing her again.

He wasn't living without her.

Kara released the radiance, and Delaney rushed in to hold her still-unconscious mate.

Moments later, Skye stopped dancing and walked to Paenther. "Their animals are suffering, but they're alive and still minimally connected to the men. Tighe's is the stronger of the two."

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"I thought the babe was killing him faster," Lyon said.

"He might have been, but Tighe had an advantage Hawke didn't have. Tighe had Delaney to help keep him tethered. Hawke had no one. I've done all I can for now."

"Are they strong enough to transport back to Feral House?"

Skye nodded. "Yes, thanks to Kara's radiance. We'll continue to strengthen them as we can, but ultimately it's up to the warriors."

"They'll fight their way through this." Lyon's voice commanded it be so.

Growls of assent filled the air. The alternative was unthinkable.